The wedding day runs by soooo fast! People that say the wedding day goes by in the blink of an eye are actually exaggerating… it goes by even faster. Our wedding day was as long as it could be in one day, yet it still went by in a flash! So we recommend that our clients take any opportunity to slow down and just take in this incredible day! But how exactly do you do that? Here are our favorite three reasons…

1. Wedding gifts! Taking a minute while you’re getting ready, and reading a note and possibly a gift from your future spouse is an amazing way to slow down! The focus shouldn’t be on the item necessarily, but we LOVE legacy items from grandparents, or future items that turn into things you share with your grandkids. It should be all about taking a moment to read something from the person you’ve chosen to spend the rest of your life with. it can be only a minute or two just by yourself (and of course with your photographer!) where you can stop what you’re doing and just take a second to take it all in.

2. First Looks…We think this is one of the best things you can do you on your wedding day. Not only does this save precious time on your wedding day, and give you way more portraits of you and your spouse, most important, it gives time for the two of you just by yourselves to be in each other’s arms, and love on each other away from everything. We take portraits during this time, but the first 5 minutes are just you guys laughing, crying, and showing off how stunning you  each look. Without the first look, you are seeing your spouse for the first time in front of hundreds of people, during your ceremony. And it’s harder to share a moment at that point… We wrote a full blog post on First Looks and the benefits of it, so if you are debating, head on over! We did a first look and it was easily our favorite part of the wedding day!

3. Having your own cocktail hour. Some clients of ours that do a first look do it partially because it means that after they do family portraits, they can join in the festivities of their cocktail hour. But taking some time with just you and your spouse, and having your day of coordinator bring a few hors d’oeuvres from your cocktail hour will not only give you a breather, but also let you and your spouse share in the precious moments just after getting married! It’s all go go go during a wedding day, especially after the ceremony because that’s when the party starts, which means all of your guests will most likely need to be fed, and then party the evening away. Your attention will be all over the place, with a lot of things you need to make sure you do, like say hi to as many guests as possible, find time to eat, say hi to friends you haven’t seen in years, and all of this fits into the tight schedule of the evening. Instead of feeling the pressure of all that on your shoulders, get yourself a day of coordinator who will not only take care of all your guests for you, but also take care of you and give you just a few minutes to just the two of you, because that’s what everyone is celebrating… the two of you dedicating yourselves to one another for life! Our amazing couple featured below had an early wedding that ended in the afternoon, at which they (and thankfully they invited us!) went to share an hour of each other’s company at Sugar Fix, just a mile down the road. Then, headed back for the rest of the evening, where they had their reception and partied the night away!